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Tesla Sells Brand-New Model 3 With Three Cracked Jacking Points in Germany, Gets Sued

There are multiple cases in which carmakers punish customers by not admitting defects instead of preventing or fixing them in a timely manner – even if that eventually happens. Lately, Tesla has been doing this more often than the rest of the pack, as an example from Germany makes it very clear. Imagine buying a brand-new car with three of its four jacking points cracked…
Tesla Model 3 jacking points on the owner's manual and what a German engineer found in his car 8 photos
Photo: Tesla/Christoph Lindner/edited by autoevolution
This is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRThis is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRThis is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRThis is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRThis is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRThis is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand-new Tesla Model 3 LRTesla Model 3 jacking points on the owner's manual and what a German engineer found in his car
That’s what happened to an engineer who spent €54,000 ($57,467 at the current exchange rate) on a Model 3 Long Range (LR) in February 2021. When his new EV needed to replace the winter tires in spring, he noticed that the underbody had dents and that most of the jacking points were fractured. You can check the damages in our gallery.

After investigating the situation, the engineer discovered that more customers had the same issue and learned that a robot at the Fremont factory caused it. In other words, Tesla could not argue that he was the one to damage his car. According to Christoph Lindner, his lawyer, the company even “admitted in writing the production process was amended to avoid such defects.” Tesla fixed its production process on April 26, 2021.

Lindner also told autoevolution that he does not have a precise number of vehicles affected by the cracked jacking points. However, he estimates them to be thousands or even tens of thousands. The attorney created the website TeslaAnwalt (Tesla Attorney) to assist customers affected by the multiple issues presented by the company's EVs. If you have an American Model 3 produced and delivered around the same time, you should verify your vehicle’s underbody.

This is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand\-new Tesla Model 3 LR
Photo: Christoph Lindner
We learned about this story thanks to EFahrer. The German website named this Tesla customer by a fictitious name because his case is now in court. The Model 3 LR owner tried to solve everything amicably by showing Tesla the damages and asking for the repair. First, the EV maker told him that the issues he found were just cosmetic and tried to fix them by merely painting them.

When the engineer rightfully argued that it was not enough, the Tesla Service Center in Berlin told him that the problems were not covered under warranty, which is not true. The EV maker establishes a four-year or a 50,000-mile (80,467-kilometer) limit “to correct any defect in material or workmanship in any part manufactured or supplied by Tesla that is used under normal conditions.” The Model 3 still respects both conditions, and it came with fractured jacking points, as Tesla itself recognized.

Apart from denying him warranty coverage, the Tesla Service Center also said that the only repair possible was replacing the battery pack. That would cost the customer €15,000 ($15,963) if he decided to pay for it, which he didn’t. The engineer preferred to ask Lindner for help.

This is how a German engineer discovered the jacking points in his brand\-new Tesla Model 3 LR
Photo: Christoph Lindner
The attorney filed a lawsuit at the Munich I District Court in September 2021 and asked for an independent car inspection. The German court assigned a DEKRA expert to check the EV, which was done in April 2022. The conclusion was that the Model 3 would never pass the first of its regular inspections – required for any car to be allowed on public roads. Without the necessary repairs, this EV will only be drivable on public roads until 2024.

The 34-year-old engineer who bought the Model 3 is not asking for his money back: he wants Tesla to replace the vehicle. However, he will not accept one made in the U.S. anymore. Instead, the Tesla customer wants it to be a Chinese unit and that it is flawless this time.

The EV maker now has a deadline to comment on the results. Lindner thinks that the EV maker may try to dispute the DEKRA specialist’s conclusion. If it recognizes the inspection was correct, it may have to recall thousands of cars to replace the battery pack not only in Germany but also in other countries where the Fremont-made Model 3 may have been sold. We’ll keep an eye on similar cases and also on this one: it promises to be relevant to more people than just to this Model 3 owner.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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